a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card reader which handles a magnetic card or an IC card and the like.
b) Description of the Related Art
In a conventional card reader, an IC or magnetic card on which data are stored is held in the thickness direction by a pair of rollers, at least one of which is driven by a motor and the like, thereby transferring the card to the driving path. In the magnetic card reader which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open No. H5-12498, for example, a magnetic card is held by three pairs of rollers arranged in the driving direction thereby transferring the magnetic card. When data recording/reproduction is performed, a magnetic strip formed on the magnetic card is moved with respect to the magnetic head. In a card reader, the size of a card insertion slot is somewhat larger than the card, therefore, the card is not always inserted straight. To resolve the problem in a card reader of the conventional technology, the distance by which the card is transferred is set long such that the magnetic card which is inserted at a slanted angle or in an askew manner is straightened before it reaches the magnetic head. However, providing a long path is undesirable as it prevents the production of reduced-size card readers.
When using a magnetic card in the card reader, one or both sides of the card normally is formed with a magnetic strip. The magnetic information on the magnetic strip is recorded/reproduced by the magnetic heads formed opposite each other across the card driving path. With the magnetic heads on the sides of the driving path, each of the magnetic heads are designed to be pressed by a compression coil spring such that the magnetic heads are projected to transfer the force to a magnetic card. However, if a warped card is driven, the magnetic head deviates from the base position due to the warping of the card. Upon removal of the card, the head deviation is maintained. If a magnetic card is inserted into a slot while the magnetic head is deviated from its original position, the end of the card contacts a side of the magnetic head, thereby affecting the smooth driving of the card.
In addition, current card readers may be used to read both magnetic cards and IC cards. When recording to or reading from an IC card, the IC terminal formed on one side of the card is contacted by the card reader, and the IC contact block of the card reader is moved by means of a specific actuator (solenoid). However, a mechanism, independent from the driving mechanism for transferring the IC card, to drive the IC contact block is required, thus increasing the number of components, cost and size of the card reader. Also, when the IC contact block is designed to be lowered along with the card movement, the load during the IC card transfer increases, thus causing the card to jam. Further, a card reader may be designed such that the magnetic head is given the capability to record/reproduce magnetic data, and if the IC contact block is lowered during such recording/reproducing, data recording/reproduction may be degraded.